Pronunciations (2)
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/læs/
Pronunciation notes
- General-American
- Received-Pronunciation
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læs
Noun
A girl; also (by extension), a young woman.
- Examples
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Come and dance, ye lads and lasses!
[T]heyr founders soules / Haue lost theyr beade rolles, / The mony for theyr masses / Spent amonge wanton lasses; […]
More examples (9)
Ste[phano]. Is it ſo braue a Laſſe? / Cal[iban]. I [i.e., aye] Lord, ſhe vvill become thy bed, I vvarrant, / And bring thee forth braue brood.
This is the prettieſt Lovv-borne Laſſe, that euer / Ran on the greene-ſord: […]
The laſs i' th' red petticoat ſhall pay for all. Young men anſvver ſo vvhen they are chid for being ſo prodigal and expenſive, meaning they vvill get a vvife vvith a good portion, that ſhall pay for it.
[P]ray vvhich is the little Laſs that intends to be a Gentlevvoman?
Let the toaſt paſs, drink to the laſs, / I vvarrant ſhe'll find an excuſe for the glaſs.
But one there is, the loveliest of them all, / Some sweet lass of the valley, looking out / For gains, and who that sees her would not buy?
[S]he was the bonniest lass in our parochine and the neest till't.
He was fond of a lass and fond of a glass, and fond of a ran-dan; […]
My audience to this not-too-easy operation was a small group of Scottish school lasses, who seemed (perhaps naturally) to find the proceedings somewhat mysterious, but at any rate amusing. I wished they would go away, but they didn't, so I had to get on with the job to the accompaniment of a background of giggles!
A girl; also (by extension), a young woman. A female member of the Salvation Army; a hallelujah lass.
Usage- specifically
- Examples
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More examples (1)
Jenny Hill, a pale, overwrought, pretty Salvation lass of 18, comes in through the yard gate, leading Peter Shirley, a half hardened, half worn-out elderly man, weak with hunger.
A sweetheart.
Usage- Geordie
- Wearside
- especially
- Examples
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More examples (4)
But firſt him ſeemed fit, that vvounded Knight / To viſite, after this nights perillous paſſe, / And to ſalute him, if he vvere in plight, / And eke [also] that Lady his faire louely laſſe.
It vvas a Louer, and his laſſe, / VVith a hey, and a ho, and a hey nonino, / That o're the greene corne feild did paſſe, / In the ſpring time, the onely pretty rang [ring] time, / VVhen Birds do ſing, hey ding a ding, ding.
The youthfull Bull muſt vvander in the VVood; / Behind the Mountain, or beyond the Flood: / […] / VVith tvvo fair Eyes his Miſtreſs burns his Breaſt; / He looks, and languiſhes, and leaves his Reſt; / Forſakes his Food, and pining for the Laſs, / Is joyleſs of the Grove, and ſpurns the grovving graſs.
There might ye ſee the pioney ſpread vvide, / The full-blovvn roſe, the ſhepherd and his laſs, / Lap-dog and lambkin vvith black ſtaring eyes, / And parrots vvith tvvin cherries in their beak.
The love Leeby bore for Jamie was such that in their younger days it shamed him. […] "Hoo is your lass?" they used to cry to him, inventing a new game.
A female servant; a maid, a maidservant.
Usage- Northern-England
- Scotland
- Examples
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More examples (1)
[…] I'll tell ye that after we are done wi' our supper, for it will may be no be sae weel to speak about it while that lang-lugged limmer o' a lass is gaun flisking in and out o' the room.
[S]ure aneugh, the lass washed clottered blood aff the carpet the neist day.
She fleyed Johnnie awa' frae the door when he was for daffin' wi' the serving lasses.
A term of address for a woman, or a female animal.
Usage- Scotland
- familiar
- Examples
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As fair art thou, my bonie laſs, / So deep in luve am I; / And I will luve thee ſtill, my Dear, / Till a' the ſeas gang dry.
"Hi, Juno, lass—hi, old girl; down, Daph, down," said Wardle, caressing the dogs.
Noun
a girl or young woman who is unmarried
- Synonyms
- Broader terms